“I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream”

Ice cream is the quintessential summertime food! No one food is more closely associated with the summer season or just warm and/or hot weather in general than ice cream in it’s various, delicious, forms. Everyone has their own memories about ice cream from both childhood and as adults be they either positive or negative.

There are few of us who don’t have memories about the number one outside experience in the acquisition of ice cream… The ice cream truck experience! Who has never heard the mechanical music box like tunes from that vehicle miles away in the distance and began their song and dance about needing ice cream from the ice cream truck?!? It didn’t matter if the freezer at home was full of similar frozen novelties or not! It was about the Pavlovian reaction to that music with the combined community experience of getting the money to chase the truck while seeing other children doing the same thing. Often running barefoot on hot pavement and asphalt just to catch it in time to then experience the mixed pleasure of a sweet cold mouth and burning feet afterwards!

Ice cream is also a food very closely associated with special events and locations like amusement parks and state/county fairs! The first time many tried unique ice cream variations like the waffle cone or fried ice cream was at an amusement park/state fair. Ice cream with it’s popularity and versatility never fails to please foodies both old and young with new interpretations of the dish constantly being created and shared with the public.

The history of ice cream is as interesting as the dish itself! There are various accounts of how ice cream was first made and enjoyed. Most of those accounts involve royals being the first to enjoy the delicacy. It dates as far back as snow drizzled with honey in Ancient Greece along with the first iced dairy drinks and Eskimos eating frozen whale blubber mixed with blueberries into what was called “Cream Ice” from the 1500’s-1700’s in those royal French, Italian, and other wealthy households.

As refrigeration and various ingredients became more readily available to the general public of course ice cream was an immediate and welcome addition to the overall culinary experience for EVERYONE! “I scream you scream we ALL scream for ice cream!” is a popular children’s song chanted to this very day. Ice cream is also the topic of many songs and games reflecting the major impact it had and has had not only on our tables and tongues but on the overall culture in general.

Making one’s own ice cream isn’t difficult. There are various complex recipes made by chefs in the finest dining establishments in the world. Each one is delicious and deserves merit based on the additional time and energy along with creativity involved in their making. However, ice cream can also be quickly made as easily as mixing whipped cream with sweetened condensed milk by carefully folding them into each other with the jelly and/or other flavors and pieces of candy/fruit/dessert items/nuts then freezing that. My personal favorite is vanilla ice cream with Blackberry preserves and cashews. It is salty, from the nuts, sweet, from the ice cream, creamy and smooth while also simultaneously being crunchy! It both pleases and challenges the palate of the most jaded “foodie”. I had it for the first time at a popular ice cream shop chain.

I doubt there are many who would dispute that ice cream is one of the top 3 summertime foods in existence both historically and currently. Have a summertime ice cream and taste what has been a beloved centuries’ old experience that we ALL can share!